16 January 2007

Ahem

I've been watching this little thermometer thing, and I've been noticing a distinct lack of upward movement over the past few weeks. Now, I have also seen just how much Steph's little drive has been able to generate. Some of that astronomical sum even came from me (as did some of the pathetic little sum above). Something's just not adding up here, though.

Now, I know I haven't written a book, let alone half a dozen, and this little blog doesn't generate 4,078,307.6 comments per post, but my goal is also considerably more modest than $240K. I also know that this, my little piece of the web, is getting somewhere around 100 hits per day on average. If each of those 100 people would just donate a paltry $7.70, then this very tiny goal could be met in one day. Just $7.70. That's less than the cost of two pattern booklets, less than 1/3 the cost of one of the Barbara Walker Treasuries. Hell, that's only an hour and a half's labor at minimum wage.

More importantly, this work and the work of MSF are really two parts of the same whole. When people can feed themselves and sustain themselves and their communities, then there is less hunger, less disease, less violence, less war - and less of the kinds of desperate situations MSF work so hard to deal with and mitigate. It's not a matter of either/or - both are essential.

So please try to help out. And tomorrow I'll be back to rave about Debbie at Nordic Fiber Arts and how much she rocks.

a response from one reader - I think it's great you're doing this, but I tend to do my giving locally (by which I mean, via Oxfam in the UK for similar projects to this) and like to think it through for a while rather than follow a bandwagon. So I haven't given via either your link or the Yarn Harlots, but both have prompted me to think about and change my giving separately.

Hey Mel, sent in my donation. I have to tell you though, I would be much more inclined to donate if these organizations would take paypal. I hate sending all my personal & credit card information over the internet.

Sorry, dude, we gave at the office...well, actually, around Thanksgiving my dds and I decided to get a Knitting Basket (2 llamas and 2 sheep, these days--it was different last year) and give everyone on our Christmas List shares in it. It was really well received, most shockingly by my mother, who usually prefers more tangible prezzies...